Seatpost 7.13.12: NYC Cycling Culture This Week

We’re celebrating the launch of our Hamptons Riding Guide, an exclusive resource for all things biking at the beach, with a Women’s Summer Ride on the East End this weekend. If you’re in the Sag Harbor (Long Island) area, join cycling friends for a 10- to 15-mile social ride. We’ve teamed up with the new Sag Harbor Cycle Company, so meet at the shop at 34 Bay Street (across from the marina) at 7:45 a.m. We roll at 8 a.m. and we’ll keep the pace relaxed. Light post-ride refreshments and 10 percent savings on bicycle accessories at the shop. For details and to RSVP, please click here to visit our Facebook events page!

Shelter Island Cycling Love

In collaboration with Well + Good NYC’s Healthy Summer Guide, we’ve mapped one 0f our favorite rides on Shelter Island, along with some stops for yummy food, summery drinks and cute places to shop. Further expand your fitness horizons with W+G’s Ultimate Guide to the Hamptons.

Ongoing – See Spots All Weekend!

We’ve got a soft spot for polka-dots — as in the red-polka dot jersey that fetes the top climber in the Tour de France and in everyday fashion on the streets of NYC, of course. So we’ve teed up some spot-on weekend suggestions.

Watch the Tour de France – The Alps behind them, the riders of the Tour de France shift focus to the Pyrenees, with, as of Friday, Fredrik Kessiakoff (above) of Team Astana in the polka dot jersey. You don’t have to be a hard-core fan to feel transported by the majestic scenery of France. Besides, the colorful get-ups worn by the bicycling-crazed fans along the route make the riders’ kits look almost demur. And, the charms and all-around good humor of TDF commentator Bob Rolle is a treat. TV viewing schedule. (photo credit)

Visit the Whitney Museum of American Art – Yayoi Kusama Retrospective – A just-opened retrospective highlights the work of Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, who is known for, you guessed it, patterns of polka dots, among other themes. The artist first gained fame with her avante gard installations and happenings in the ’60s. Her paintings, drawings, sculptures, film and works in other media are on exhibit through Sept. 30, at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street.

Ogle the Louis Vuitton Flagship Store Front – On your travels around town, ride your bike to the corner of 57th St. and Fifth Avenue, where the facade and windows of Louis Vuitton are spotted in homage to Ms. Kusama (above). You’ll know where to point your camera phone: Tourists will be ogling the lifelike and vaguely creepy wax figure of the artist herself. Inside: polka-dot shoes, handbags and other covetable luxury goods.

Saturday, July 14 — City of Water Day

Traffic-free Governor’s Island is a great place to ride, and this weekend biking meets boating. The already-spectacular waterfront views will be filled with a flotilla of vessels in celebration of the New York – New Jersey Harbor. Park your bike and get in on a variety of waterfront activities, demonstrations, programs for children, food, live music and more between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Just thinking about it helps cool us off. Information here.

Have You Entered to Win a City Bicycle?

Wheels whir; blur of spokes and undulate ochre scarves. There is a devil catching up to me. (excerpt from contest entry by writer Mark Wilson)

The venerable literary magazine The Paris Review has teamed up with velojoy.com and West Village purveyor of upright city rides Hudson Urban Bicycles to give away a new bicycle. Exercise your imagination in a writing contest that revolves around the illustration at right, drawing upon inspiration from Paris Review stalwarts Elizabeth Bishop, Ray Bradbury, Joan Didion and more. Click here to get in on this!

Bicycle Link Love From Around the Web

Slow-zones to calm traffic — In a move that’s sure to further improve street safety, Mayor Michael Bloomberg this week announced expansion of slow zones — areas where the speed limit is lowered from 30 to 20 miles — to as many as 13 neighborhoods across the city. The New York Times reported that the mayor called the program the latest tool in “our assault on the No. 1 traffic killer — speeding.”

Tacky and disturbing — New York Magazine reported that thumbtacks strewn across the road at Harlem Hill in Central Park flattened the tires of more than a dozen bicycles on Tuesday, causing at least one rider to hit the deck. While the culprit remains a mystery, the possibility of a disgruntled runner was cited.

Flats begging for a spin — Cycling’s fast-growing popularity is inspiring more coverage than ever on popular fashion websites like powerhouse Refinery29. This week the editors spotlighted 11 shoes well-suited to pedaling around town in style. Check em’ out.

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1 week agoby velojoyAlec Baldwin joins panelists onstage at the conclusion of "Climate Change in a New 'Environment' " at the Hamptons Institute. "This is categorically the worst it's ever been..." says NRDC President Rhea Suh (second from right) of current environmental policy. Baldwin produces the Hamptons Institute series with Tracy Marshall. #climatechange#green#environment#solarpower#windpower#nrdc